The Wolf of Wall Street yanks you headfirst into the most graphic, outrageous scenes imaginable. Prepare to see an executive broker snorting cocaine off a woman’s body before you are even comfortable in your seat. Scandal after scandal follows that, all of which derive from the corruptive nature of greed. Leonardo Dicaprio plays a cunning stock broker who becomes obsessed with money. He devises a new system of brokering that earns him immense wealth and the attention of the FBI. For years, he luxuriates in his high-end lifestyle of drugs, sex, and money.

It is easy to disregard unethical behavior as Hollywood embellishment, but morals are crumbling within our society. The depictions from this movie, controversial as they are, truthfully reflect this.

Our ambition creates monsters as we rely on backhanded ways to assure a profitable outcome; for example, we can see this in the most recent political scandal. Governor Chris Christie’s staff has been found to be responsible for the George Washington Bridge lane closings in a government scheme to punish the democratic Mayor Sokolich. This caused the death of a woman who needed access to the hospital. When Christie’s game did not go his way, he reacted like a petty child: only Christie is a big boy with big toys to play with.

A tragedy in Brazil again reminded us of the evil in our society. In retaliation for a police crackdown in a prison, a local gang ordered an attack. They stormed a train and set it on fire, which killed six-year old, Ana Souza.

Those with power have been using it without logic. When seeing The Wolf of Wall Street, we may think, “No way can this be real,” while its directors say the reality behind this film was even worse. It is troublesome that those filled with greed also fill our global positions of power.

Written by Maddie Vaziri’16